War on Terrorism

Monday, December 07, 2015

NAVAL SUPPORT ACTIVITY BAHRAIN, December 7, 2015 — If any
country, in the wake of the attacks in Paris, doesn’t think the Islamic State
of Iraq and the Levant is a problem, “then they are not thinking hard enough,”
Marine Corps Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr.said today.

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff discussed the
campaign against ISIL and efforts to enhance the coalition dedicated to defeating
the terror group during an interview with reporters at the Naval Support
Activity here.

The chairman would like to see more Sunni forces dedicated
to the effort against ISIL. “My assessment is that the Sunni Arab forces from
Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf would be helpful in Iraq and Syria,” he said.
And the leaders of those nations know of this assessment and are studying
proposals, Dunford added.

“The Saudis, the [United Arab Emirates] and Bahrain are all
in Yemen and dealing with violent extremism there,” he said. “But we’d like to
see some more help particularly in Syria.”

Dunford has also sent letters to various countries around
the world that have specific capabilities needed to contribute to the fight.
“That initiative is very much alive in terms of the secretary of defense’s
outreach, my outreach,” he said. “That’s a big thing that we are doing as we
engage with our counterparts. We know what capabilities they have, [and] we
know what capabilities we can use in the campaign. So we’ve targeted those
countries, and we are asking them for support.”

There have been some initial responses that are encouraging,
but, he added, he won’t say more until those capabilities are on the ground and
contributing.

Increasing Coalition Contributions

More capabilities -- from the French, Italians, Germans and
British -- are flowing to the battle in Iraq and Syria. “We have a number of
countries we are working with right now to provide additional special
operations forces in Syria and Iraq,” Dunford said. “There are more than 60
nations in the U.S.-led coalition against ISIL, and a number of those nations
-- particularly in the wake of Paris -- have indicated that their contributions
would increase.”

This kind of collective effort is needed to build pressure
against the terror group. “The pressure we are putting on violent extremists
around the world is necessary. Otherwise they will grow, and their external
operations capability will grow and will be a greater threat to the American
people and our interests and our allies,” he said.

Dunford stressed that this will not mean large formations of
western forces. The anti-ISIL campaign plan is based on getting indigenous
ground forces from the region to retake territory lost in Syria and Iraq. In
Syria, this means small numbers of special operations forces working with
credible Sunni Arab forces.

In Iraq, the coalition is supporting and training Iraqi
security forces, the Kurdish Peshmerga, and Sunni tribes. The coalition is
providing some logistical support, equipment, advice and combined arms support
particularly aviation support and surface fires, the chairman said.

Dunford emphasized that everything the United States is
doing in Iraq is being done in consultation with Iraq’s government.